Source: axios.com
San Francisco's expensive housing market is the city's worst-kept secret.
What's happening: A lesser-known secret is that San Francisco has a variety of programs for first-time homebuyers with low to moderate incomes, including ones that help residents with downpayment assistance.
Why it matters: Coming up with funds to make a downpayment is one of the biggest barriers to homeownership.
💠Our thought bubble: Megan here. In 2019, I received $375,000 in down-payment assistance from the city as part of San Francisco's Downpayment Assistance Loan Program (DALP).
"[These programs] are an important part of ensuring equitable and achievable homeownership," Anne Stanley, a spokesperson with the mayor's office of housing, told Axios via email.
By the numbers: From July 2021 through June 2022, the DALP program helped 67 low- to moderate-income households, resulting in the distribution of more than $19.9 million, according to the mayor's office of housing.
Of note: The DALP program has only served five Black people in the last five to six years, Saidah Leatutufu-Burch, the director of the city's Dream Keeper Initiative (DKI), told Axios.
What they're saying: Leatutufu-Burch said it's important that city programs are accessible to a wide variety of people when talking about "creating a home in San Francisco or planting roots in San Francisco, as well as building some level of housing stability in San Francisco."
Between the lines: Despite these housing programs geared toward first-time homebuyers, there's still the issue of S.F.'s housing shortage.
What to watch: The mayor's office of housing plans to open applications for the 2023 DALP program soon. You can get email alerts by signing up here.
Source: axios.com